A sort of homecoming for Roy

NEW Celtic signing Roy Keane has revealed his former Manchester United team-mates were no longer prepared to be “pushed hard” during the final throes of his Old Trafford career.

The 34-year-old left United last month when his contract was terminated by mutual consent in the wake of an MUTV interview which was not broadcasted.

Keane had reportedly criticised a number of his team-mates in the interview, prompting a fall-out with manager Alex Ferguson.

Now, after meeting clubs such as Real Madrid, Bolton and Everton, the Cork man has signed an 18-month deal with Celtic, which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2007.

But the player insists he will not be giving up his desire to bring the best out of himself and his team-mates in Glasgow.

“There’s been a lot of nonsense written about what I was supposed to have said. I want to push my team-mates hard, but people were up for that up until a few months ago.

“I have not come up here on an ego trip or to unwind. I’m here to win matches. I am a team player despite a lot of reports. I feel I can help the club move on to the next level which is winning trophies. That is what I am in the game for. I am not necessarily in the game to be popular,” Keane said.

“I like pushing myself and the people around me hard but there seems to be a fault with that in the modern day.”

But Keane insists he is still a Man United fan despite his relationship with Ferguson coming “to an end.”

He said: “I was contracted to United and I was convinced up to last year I would end my career there but things change.”

“I had a great time at Man United - they are a fantastic club. If you had told me again I would spend 10-and-a-half years there I’d be lucky.

“The manager was great to me there but our relationship came to an end. It was very amicable and we shook hands and wished each other well.

“United will go on and life will go on and Roy Keane will go on. I wish everyone well at United, they are a fantastic club.”

Celtic might not have signed Keane had early favourites Real Madrid not asked for another week to think about signing him. He revealed: “I spoke to Madrid and told them I wasn’t prepared to wait another week.”

The former Cobh Ramblers player also rejected interest from Premiership clubs Everton, Bolton and West Brom and only finally decided to join Celtic yesterday morning but feels he belongs at the club he supported as a kid.

“Coming up the motorway last night I was going over things,” he explained. “I got my head down last night after a chat with a good friend of mine and it was the right decision this morning. There has been a lot of speculation over the past few weeks about where I was going. But I gave every club a chance and spoke to every manager.

“Madrid explained to me they were looking to wait another week or so which is fair enough. Having spoken to the Celtic manager and having been offered the contract, I knew this was the club for me. I took my time and made the right decision. I feel this is where I belong.”

The move has cast uncertainty over the future of midfielder Stilian Petrov, who is in contract negotiations at the moment.

But chief executive Peter Lawwell insisted that getting the Bulgarian international star to sign a new deal is their number one priority.

“That will have absolutely no effect at all on those talks,” said Lawwell. “We are in standard negotiations which we believe are going pretty well at the moment. It is still our highest priority to get Stilian to stay here.”

Keane is also looking forward to playing alongside Petrov and skipper Neil Lennon and is also ready for the battle for a midfield place.

“The two best players over the past four or five years in Scotland have been Neil Lennon and Petrov in midfield,” Keane said.

Asked what he had to offer to the Hoops, Keane replied: “They are getting a pretty decent player. A lot has been said about my injuries and age but I have a lot to offer and I will surprise a few people.

“I have been a midfielder professionally for the last 15 or 16 years. If you are challenging for trophies then you always need a big squad.

“The players at Celtic have done very well so I am under no illusions that I will walk into the team. I have never taken my place in the team for granted. I aim to train hard and give the manager a problem.

“At my previous club when they bought a few midfielders I saw it as a challenge so hopefully those here will do the same.”

Keane also denied he harbours ambitions to replace Lennon as skipper.

“The captaincy is a bonus. I am all about the team.

“The team always comes first and the captaincy doesn’t bother me one bit.”

It is also feared the introduction of Keane could disrupt things at Parkhead but Strachan quipped:

“If you think we’ve got a bunch of shrinking violets don’t tell Sutton, Lennon and Thompson because they are aggressive as anyone in training and demanding.

“But to add to that is fantastic. It was too good a chance to miss out on one of the world’s great competitors.”